Our homeschooling approach has always been eclectic. We started out pretty solidly unschooling, threw in a bit of purchased curriculum (mostly because certain relatives purchased it for the kids to assuage their own neuroses), and have always loved doing Unit Studies.
This year C has really wanted more structure and has set some concrete academic goals for herself. She wants to be able to learn how to multiply and divide, how to spell, and how to write in cursive. She thinks that regularly scheduled work-time, at her desk, is the best way for her, and has asked for workbooks, etc, to help her practice the skills she's learning. Its working beautifully so far and the kid is making major progress, especially in math.
While C is doing her work, B will not be left out. He wants to work too. (It has to be one of the great ironies of 3 year olds that they want to do everything EXACTLY like their older sibling EXCEPT for those moments when a parent really needs both kids in the same place, doing the same thing - then its time to assert independence! But I digress...) So B works on some wipe-off letter and number cards, or 'writes' or has a reading lesson (yes, he does want to learn to read, and no, I don't think 3 is too early) or does similar pre-K sorts of things
Still, I love the Unit Studies best. There have always been 2 kinds of Unit Studies at our house - the stated, planned Units and then the organic, unarticulated units. Right now the capital-U Units are Lewis and Clark and volcanoes. They've been fun so far and we're learning lots and have plenty yet to do before we're done.
But the little-u units right now are just wonderful to see. B is on a big cats/dinosaurs/sea creatures kick. We read about them for literally hours and he frequently plays 'big cats' on his own. Watching him take different paths with it, explore and become curious is something I feel really privileged to watch, and facilitate. He focuses intently on one species at a time, asks a zillion questions, reads the same books over and over, plays that species daily and then its on to the next. Its been months now and while his interest has waxed and waned and meandered, he's still going strong with the big three. We've visited 2 oceans, 2 excellent aquariums and a handful of natural history museums in the past 3 months and every 'field trip' is just more fuel for the fire.
C has taken off in a number of different directions. From Lewis and Clark she launched into the Westward Expansion - playing
Oregon Trail a TON these days and wanting to cook 'wagon train food'. She's also devoured the
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by
Rick Riordan (Here's a fun
fan site too! Notice the different cover art...) and is just beginning to test the waters of full-on Greek mythology. Then there's her Shakespeare program , about to start up again on Monday. She'll do a brief workshop about playing bit parts and then will take her place in the spring production of The Tempest and perhaps also a longer workshop on both acting in death scenes and comedic acting. Her interest in and commitment to both acting in general and Shakespeare in particular has been deep and enduring. C's first production was fall of 2005 and she's spent most of her time involved with one production or another ever since. When we were riding the train home from our Pacific vacation last month we dined with the former executive director of the
San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. C not only held her own in conversation with the man, but captivated him and engaged him. He was very encouraging of her efforts and C has made mention of him several times since. She's only 9, and if this is as far as she ever goes with Shakespeare, dayenu. The confidence she's gained, not to mention the vocabulary and the vastly widened horizons are priceless.
It is truly a gift to watch my kids stretch and grow and explore in their own way, on their own paths and in their own time.
